This study examined the physicochemical properties of three kinds of black rice — Okunomurasaki (nonwaxy, Japonica), Asamurasaki (waxy, Japonica), and Nursery sticky rice (waxy, Indica) — and compared them with the properties of two kinds of unpolished white rice: Koshihikari (nonwaxy, Japonica) and polished Koshihikari.
The water absorption rate of the unpolished black rice was lower than that of the polished rice, but was higher than that of unpolished Koshihikari. Both Nursery sticky rice and Asamurasaki absorbed a remarkable amount of water during cooking. In addition, because Asamurasaki had a fast water absorption rate, it required low starting temperatures and energy levels to gelatinize. In raw black rice, sucrose was the most abundant of the free sugars and sugar loss during rinsing was the least, which could be due to the outer skin of its grain. Furthermore, its glucose content increased significantly upon cooking. Although the polyphenol content of its outer skin reduced slightly after rinsing, its antioxidant activity remained high throughout the cooking process. Cooked waxy black rice was softer and more adhesive than the other tested rice. These results suggest that Asamurasaki black rice is the most suitable for cooking without mixing in polished rice.

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We created an Alaska pollack mousse diet with air bubble dispersions for dysphagia and researched its preference and benefits in health care. Investigation of the physical properties of this food indicated that the hardness in its texture was on average 18.59 kPa, adhesiveness was on average 1.35 kJ/m³, and cohesiveness was on average 0.60. These characteristics were within the acceptable range of Level III, as defined by Consumer Affairs Agency, Government of Japan. The sensory evaluation to assess the preference for this food indicated that, except for its elasticity and smell, this preparation was highly preferred. Furthermore, the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) value was 583 µmol Trolox Equivalent (TE)/100 g in the Alaska pollack mousse diet. This high antioxidant activity was comparable to other mousse type sea-foods. Consequently, Alaska pollack mousse diet appears to have a potential application as a high antioxidative and preferred diet for dysphagia.

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The present study examined whether serving shredded cabbage as a side dish for every meal is an effective way for a person to ingest more than 350 g of vegetables per day. It is acknowledged that the consumption of shredded cabbage during each meal in replacement of other leafy green and yellow vegetables may reduce the total intake of green and yellow vegetables. However, doing so helps to ensure the ingestion of approximately 350 g of vegetables per day. With the exception of dishes such as deep-fried pork cutlets, many students are not used to eating shredded cabbage especially in combination with Japanese or Chinese food. This paper asserts that a balanced meal consisting of staple food along with main and side dishes helped people ingest larger amounts of vegetables. However, serving shredded cabbage as a side dish, which should be prepared while paying attention to hygiene, was an inexpensive and easy way to help not only ingest a large amount of vegetables in a limited meal time, but also chew food a larger number of times, which strengthens the masticatory muscles.

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To investigate the effect of the temperature of the substance on how taste is experienced, sweetness intensity was measured by a sensory evaluation method for sweeteners and commercially available sweetened beverages. Sucrose, D-glucose, D-fructose, D-maltose, erythritol, xylitol, D-sorbitol and maltitol (eight types) were used as sweeteners in the present study. The number of commercial sweetened beverages tested was 11. The solution temperatures tested were 7, 25 (as standard), and 43°C. The participants were 27 healthy female students. Of the eight sweeteners, differences in sweetness intensity by temperature were found in D-fructose and xylitol but not in other sweeteners. On the other hand, among the commercial sweetened beverages tested, sweetness intensity was weaker at 7°C than at 25°C and stronger at 43°C than at 25°C in many of the beverages. Also, significance in the main effect of temperature on sweetness intensity was not found in the sweeteners group but was found in the commercial sweetened beverages group. The commercial sweetened beverages contain components other than sweeteners, and our results indicated the need to investigate the effects of the components on perceived sweetness.

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